The Big Bang Fair

The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths for young people in the UK. Taking place at The NEC, Birmingham in March 2016. Throughout the year there are also events taking...

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Each dot moves in a straight line.

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Here's one for all cyclists: take a look at this amazing roundabout for bikes!

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Here’s Our First Close-Up Photo Of Pluto’s Surface

NASA’s New Horizons probe launched in 2006 and has traveled 3 billion miles in the past nine years. It’s not stopping at Pluto, but it flew past the dwarf planet at 7.49 a.m. ET Tuesday.

At its closest approach, the spacecraft will have been just 12,500 kilometers (about 7,750 miles) from the surface, traveling at 14 kilometers per second (31,000 miles per hour). This is the first time we’ve come this close to Pluto. [x]

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Calling ‪#‎STEM‬ companies, activity providers, education institutions and show organisers - want a chance to inspire the next generation of scientists & engineers? Register to play a part in The Big Bang Fair 2016!

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Want to learn how to make your own edible Lego treats that you can actually build with?

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Our Crown Jewels, with crystals made of drain un-blocker and antiseptic cream, are on show at Warwick University's What If? zone at Cheltenham Science Festival this Sunday! ‪

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Happy #volunteersweek!

A massive thank you to all our amazing volunteers!

279 volunteers helped make The Big Bang Fair 2015 a great success. You can read Cecilia's story on the Big Bang Fair website.

Want to get involved? We're currently looking for volunteers for our regional Big Bang Near Me Fairs, all across the country! Get in touch with the regional organisers or sign up to receive our monthly volunteers newsletter to find out more.

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Aww, this goldfish was having trouble swimming upright so his owner made him this wheelchair.

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How an engineer would answer the question, if the glass is half full or half empty. 😅

[thebigbangfair]

The Big Bang Fair 2015

The UK’s biggest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) took place at The NEC in Birmingham, 11-14 March 2015. 68,000 young people, teachers and parents attended four fantastic days of hands-on activities, interactive exhibitions and shows.

The showfloor boasted eight themed zones to reflect the variety of STEM careers available to young people, from trying augmented reality technology in Out of this World and competing in rocket car competitions in On the Move to exploring the human body in Alive and bicycle-powered cooling machines in Farm to Fork. Thousands of young people took part in careers activities, from Meet The Future You to Careers Networking and Tomorrow’s Engineers workshops.

Over half of our target audience of 11-14 year olds saying they “learnt a lot”.

60% of 11-14 year old visitors viewed a career in engineering as desirable, against a national average for that age of 40%. 

53% of 11-14 year olds said they spoke to someone on a stand about careers (49% in 2014) 

54% agreed that they knew what to do next in order to become an engineer.

We have managed to squeeze four days of frantic activity into 6 and a half minutes.

www.thebigbangfair.co.uk

[thebigbangfair]

Scientists grow the Crown Jewels

Scientists, working with The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair, have managed to get their hands on the Crown Jewels – by growing their own from ingredients including common household items such as drain un-blocker, sandpaper and antiseptic cream.

The experiment, created to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, took a total of eight months to complete and marks Queen Elizabeth II becoming the longest ever reigning monarch later this year.

The project saw top physicists including Dr. Prabhakaran, Head of the Crystal Growth Unit at Oxford University, grow exact replicas of some of the most famous jewels in the world found in The Imperial State Crown and the Duchess of Cambridge’s engagement ring.

The ‘crowning glory’ of the clever crown, the St. Edward’s Sapphire, was made from common cleaning powder mixed with boiling water to create a copper sulphate crystal. The simple and fun experiment, which kids can easily try themselves in the classroom, shows the science behind acid-base reactions which form the basis of nearly all biological processes in living things.

 The jewels will be on display at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair at The NEC, Birmingham, 11th - 14th March 2015. Free places are still available, so book yours here: www.thebigbangfair.co.uk

Grown your own Crown Jewels

Use our easy step-by-step guide to grown your own jewels. It's easy but - if you're a young person - make sure to do it with adult supervision.

[thebigbangfair]

Land ahoy! Young engineers launch giant origami paper boat

Pupils from Tottenham University Technical College helped to launch a giant-sized origami boat on Southwark Boating Lake in South London to mark the 50 day countdown to The Big Bang Fair, which promotes careers in STEM subjects to young people.

The boat, capable of carrying an adult safely, was 3.3 metres (almost 11 foot) tall and 3.6 metres (almost 12 foot) long. Almost 100 metres of paper were used to make the boat – that’s the length of a football field.

The Big Bang Fair invited Morwenna Wilson, a direct descendent of Isambard Kingdom Brunel who is herself an award-winning engineer, to captain the boat on its maiden voyage.

Year 10 pupil Daniella Jennings, 15, from Tottenham UTC, London said:

“It was cool to see how they managed to make a huge version of the kind of paper boats I you can make at home. I didn’t even realise that was something engineers could do!”

  To create your own small scale version of this origami paper boat, visit The Big Bang Fair website for a full step-by-step guide to the process: www.thebigbangfair.co.uk/origamiboat

The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair takes place at NEC, Birmingham from 11-14 March 2015.  To register or formore information visit www.thebigbangfair.co.uk.

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Make your own #MinceFlies at home with our recipe - Locust & Worm Mince Pies

We teamed up with Gastronaut Stefan Gates to create real “Mince Flies” – they’re made with mealworm beetle larvae and locusts, mixed with traditional dried fruit and spices - now you can make them at home!

Click on the image to download the PDF...

Here are two websites where you can buy edible insects:  www.eatgrub.co.uk www.crunchycritters.com/shop/edible-insects/kids-critters-mealworms

We’re rethinking the traditional Christmas dinner to raise awareness of sustainable food this holiday season and get young people to consider the environmental impact of the food we eat.

With the world population set to grow to 9 billion by 2050, the earth’s finite resources are under increasing pressure and scientists think our global agricultural output needs to increase by 70% to feed this number of people. Traditional meat production causes sustainability issues, including large greenhouse gas emissions; insects on the other hand are very efficient consumers of resources.

Over 2 billion people around the world already eat insects as a regular part of their diet – that’s 33% of the global population. Thailand for example already has 20,000 small scale insect farms rearing over 7,500 tonnes of grasshoppers, crickets and other edible insects a year.

Stefan Gates will be returning to The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair at the NEC, Birmingham from 11-14 March 2015. He’ll be performing “Supertasters”, a high-octane show exploring the science of food.

To register or for more information visit http://www.thebigbangfair.co.uk

[thebigbangfair]

Ooh, yum... #MinceFlies - the Sustainable Xmas Food of the Future!

We teamed up with Gastronaut Stefan Gates to create real “Mince Flies” – they’re made with mealworm beetle larvae and locusts, mixed with traditional dried fruit and spices.

We’re rethinking the traditional Christmas dinner to raise awareness of sustainable food this holiday season and get young people to consider the environmental impact of the food we eat.

Children from Graveney School and Harris Academy in London handed out “Mince Flies” to hungry Christmas shoppers in London’s Borough Market today.

With the world population set to grow to 9 billion by 2050, the earth’s finite resources are under increasing pressure and scientists think our global agricultural output needs to increase by 70% to feed this number of people. Traditional meat production causes sustainability issues, including large greenhouse gas emissions; insects on the other hand are very efficient consumers of resources.

Over 2 billion people around the world already eat insects as a regular part of their diet – that’s 33% of the global population. Thailand for example already has 20,000 small scale insect farms rearing over 7,500 tonnes of grasshoppers, crickets and other edible insects a year.

Stefan Gates will be returning to The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair at the NEC, Birmingham from 11-14 March 2015. He’ll be performing “Supertasters”, a high-octane show exploring the science of food.

To register or for more information visit: http://www.thebigbangfair.co.uk

[scienceisbeauty]

Today’s animated doodle in honor of the first controlled touchdown on a comet nucleus, ie the Philae lander.

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Tomorrow’s Engineers Week 2014 is now over but our competition hasn’t closed yet!

You can win some amazing behind-the-scenes prizes like this one from Thorpe Park:

Give your classmates an adrenaline rush with tickets to THORPE PARK Resort PLUS an insider’s guide to how rollercoasters...